Iodine: landmine or blessing?

Not having developed a "full palate" and likely with good reason, that being; i like to evaluate the complete experiece of a whisk(e)y, to delve into the "buzz" to put it in rough terms. Some just seem to put a smile on your face the second it passes yor lips like magic, others the second glass you find the malt more and more appealing. Others have a negative impression that maybe put you off and the bottle on the shelf and thats no fun.
It is these liquid landmines that i wish to avoid whilst searching out new experiences. Afterall self flagellance is for religious zealots.
I would in particular like to focus on Islay creations and where the landmines are in the form of iodine tainted malts. I can not bring myself to find any liking for the taste of iodine. That's not saying i wouldnt find the taste total revoling but lets face it, it definately ruins the "buzz". If you are stranded on an island and have to burn kelp to fire your still, well then you might get acustomed. lol
I am sure the more accomplished tasters could help some of us tyros find some pleasantness without misstepping Maybe expound the merits pro and con iodine?

Last edited by Lord_Pfaffin on Thu Mar 31, 2005 3:16 am, edited 2 times in total.

Re: Liquid Landmines_Where r they? or are they?

by Deactivated Member » Thu Mar 31, 2005 12:43 am

Lord_Pfaffin wrote:Afterall self-flatulence is for religious zealots.

You do mean "flagellation"...don't you? That odor may not be iodine after all.

Seems like most of the folks here love those malts you might think of as difficult. They do grow on you (but then again, so do warts). I had a friend who used to eat green olives out of the jar like popcorn. I didn't care much for olives at the time, but tried one when offered. "That's awful," I told him. "....Give me another one!" Sometimes whisky is like that.

Laphroaig is the most famously medicinal of all the malts, LP, but we have been discussing for some time whether they've toned the flagship 10yo down in recent years, and whether they might have toned it back up. I guess that would be the one you'd want to avoid. Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Port Ellen, and Caol Ila are the other Islays with big smoky profiles, but how iodine-tinged they are is for you to decide. There are others with a maritime bent, to one extent or another--Bowmore, Old Pulteney. Suggest you pick up Michael Jackson's Malt Whisky Companion and look for descriptors like "seaweed" and "kippers".

Okay i stand corrected.
I did imagine that you would have been a little more helpfull Tattie.
You could have impressed with something of substance but alas you chose to lower yourself to beneath my level and i must admit there is little room here under this rock.
I now see why some of the membership find your comments distastefull

It's difficult to remove the iodine from a good Islay whisky without losing the very beast that makes it a good Islay whisky.

If you didn't like sherry, then it's a bit like getting annoyed at Macallan for producing sherried whiskies. Afterall, that is (was) their point.

I guess everything that hits our palates is an acquired taste. Some just take more time to acquire.

But are there any liquid landmines out there? At least from Islay? If there are, then I've yet to taste them. Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Bowmore, Caol Ila, and Port Ellen........I've tasted either some or many different expressions of each of these distilleries, and none of them struck me as being nasty or unpleasant. Just varying degrees of "good". Probably the weakest I've come across was a Bowmore Darkest, and even then, it still had its merits.

Standard Bunny and Laddie bottlings obviously don't display these same characteristics, but again, that's their aim.

Hello All,
I am not a hundred percent sure that what I think of as the iodine in the Islays I have had is really iodine, or not. However, the flavor/nose that I have labeled iodine is a plus, not a minus. IMHO.
Ed

The nose and taste that i find different with iodine not bothersome. I do however find that it disagrees with my stomach. The taste buds and the nose are saying yes but my stomach is saying no and so cant enjoy more than one glass or two at a sitting; thats whats got my knickers in a knot i guess. Hate to tone anything down so after i finish drinking some whisky right outa the bottle whilst taking a swing on the chandelier, gonna refill this soup-bowl with some ale. Cheers!
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

Ed wrote:Hello All, I am not a hundred percent sure that what I think of as the iodine in the Islays I have had is really iodine, or not. However, the flavor/nose that I have labeled iodine is a plus, not a minus. IMHO.Ed

I feel the same. A good number of my favorites at this time are Islays and if, along with the peat, iodine is a common characteristic then I find it to be a plus.

Can't say I've had any Islays bother my stomach but if they ever should then switching to ale sure sounds like a decent remedy